John Dennis was born in Jersey City, N.J., and currently resides in San Francisco. He earned a bachelor's from Fordham University.

Dennis is a real estate investor. He is the CEO and founder of San Francisco-based Foundation Real Estate, which he started in 2001. He was also a partner in the ergonomics design firm Humanscale.

Dennis and his wife, Heather, have a daughter.

John Dennis, a real estate investor who has never held public office, is the libertarian-style Republican challenger to incumbent Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi in Northern California's newly created 12th Congressional District.

It is Dennis' second run at office and against Pelosi. In 2010, he won 15 percent of the vote in California's 8th District, while Pelosi won 80 percent. Democratic party leaders have called his campaign "irrelevant."

A self-styled "Ron Paul Republican," Dennis supports legalizing marijuana, opposes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and supports gay marriage _ positions he hopes will help him win over independent voters.

He also calls for dramatically reducing federal spending and shrinking the government's role domestically and overseas. He advocates phasing out the income tax, repealing the Patriot Act and auditing the Federal Reserve.

Dennis has focused both of his campaigns on stoking anti-Pelosi anger, portraying the House Speaker as warmonger who supported the bank bailouts, failed to push hard enough for gay rights and did little to lower unemployment.

He made national headlines in 2010 with an online ad featuring a Pelosi look-alike as the Wicked Witch of the West from "The Wizard of Oz." In the spot, Dennis ultimately defeats Pelosi by dousing her with water from a bucket labeled "Freedom."

Former Board of Supervisors president Matt Gonzalez and activist groups such as the Log Cabin Republicans have endorsed Dennis. He says he has raised about $300,000 for the 2012 campaign.